Summary

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Live Reporting

Lorraine McKenna and Tasnim Chowdhury

  1. 'No sign of movement for Stroll's car'

    Jennie Gow
    F1 pit-lane reporter in Melbourne

    I'm just down at Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso is just about to come back in.

    There is no sign of movement for Lance Stroll's car, they're still working on it and they're still not saying exactly what has happened.

    The Honda engineers are still pouring over the data, so let's see.

    It doesn't look like they are going to get out with 30 minutes of the session left.

  2. There was a brief yellow flag as Alex Albon's car stopped on the track but the Williams driver has managed to get going again.

  3. Marc Priestley
    Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

    The brand new cars are so complex and the systems that operate them, it's a huge amount for the teams to learn and they're still being tripped up by things they haven't seen yet.

    There's still loads of opportunity to find things for the very first time.

    Carlos Sainz at Williams seemingly coming across one of those gremlins, which it looks like has brought their session to an end.

  4. Ferrari one-two

    Lewis Hamilton has taken the top position from his team-mate Charles Leclerc. The Brit is now on a lap time of 1:20.176.

    Leclerc is just 0.095 seconds behind him.

  5. Arvid Lindblad, Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all on the hard tyres.

    Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez are on the mediums.

    Everyone else has the red soft compounds bolted on.

  6. Team radio - Hamilton to Ferrari

    Hamilton: "There's a blue light on my left LED, I don't know what it is. It's really off putting."

    Engineer: "It should be the toggle, could be."

    Hamilton: "It's not the toggle."

  7. There's been a flurry of drivers topping the leaderboard as the drivers race around the track.

    A few drivers have locked up while they get used to the new cars.

    Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli is the current fastest driver, with a lap time of 1:20.324.

    Australia's Oscar Piastri is currently fifth with a lap time of 1:21.179.

    Lewis Hamilton has dialled in to his race engineer to say there's a blue light on his steering wheel.

  8. Commentary back up and running

    BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

    The team in Melbourne are back with us after those technical gremlins, so click the 'listen tab' at the top of the page to tune in. You can also listen via the BBC Sounds app or by asking your smart speaker to "play BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra".

  9. Stroll still waiting

    20 drivers are out on track now.

    Carlos Sainz's car has been taken back to the Williams garage.

    Meanwhile, Lance Stroll's Aston Martin is nowhere to be seen.

    "Work on the PU prior to the session has caused a delay in rebuilding Lance’s car," the team have said on social media.

    Carlos SainzGetty Images

  10. Green light

    The cars are now back out on the Albert Park Circuit.

    Drivers have under 40 minutes left in the final practice session.

  11. Top 5

    1. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1:20.572

    2. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.557

    3. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1.715

    4. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +2.091

    5. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +2.499

  12. The clock is ticking down for final practice.

    Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver out on the track before the cars had to return to the pits.

    Fernando Alonso headed out early in the session to get in laps in the Aston Martin. He completed six laps so far in practice.

  13. 'Stroll not in the car'

    Jennie Gow
    F1 pit-lane reporter in Melbourne

    Aston Martin's woes continue I'm afraid, Lance Stroll is not in the car and in fact, it has got the orange markers all around the car.

    It says 'caution do not enter' on top of the normal barriers that keep us away, and only the Honda engineers and mechanics are working on the car.

    It's stripped back entirely, so he's not going to go out imminently anyway.

  14. red flag

    Red flag

    The session has now been red-flagged as the stewards remove Carlos Sainz's Williams.

    The pit lane entrance is now open for cars to head back into the garages.

  15. BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

    Sorry if you've lost commentary of third practice, folks. The team out in Melbourne seem to be having a few technical difficulties at the moment.

    Hopefully, they'll be back and running soon and we'll let you know when they have returned.

  16. The cars that are out on the track are still going around the circuit with a Virtual Safety Car, as they can't get into the pit lane.

    Carlos Sainz is out of his car and making his way down to the garage.

  17. yellow flag

    Yellow flag

    The session has been yellow-flagged as Carlos Sainz's Williams has stopped in the entry to the pit lane.

    "I'm back but everything is turned off still," he tells his race engineer through the team radio.

  18. Tyre talk

    What tyres have Pirelli packed for the season opener?

    The three softest compounds in the range have been selected for the Australian Grand Prix.

    That is the C3 white hard tyres, C4 yellow mediums and C5 red soft compounds - the same as last year's race.

    Intermediates and full wet tyres are available should they be needed.

    Max VerstappenGetty Images

  19. Hamilton fastest

    Lewis Hamilton has set the fastest lap time so far in final practice.

    The Ferrari has a lap time of 1:21.599 on the red soft tyres.

  20. Despite the tough sessions for Aston Martin so far in Australia, Fernando Alonso is one of the first lot of cars out on the track. He will be hoping for more laps this session and a more comfortable car.